Snob College
by Kurmoi
Summary: AU, sequel to Snob School. Ayane is moving on in life, finishing high school and starting the next chapter in her life, college. Among friend and foe, reuniting with people of old and meeting new, will her story be a happy one?
1. Look on the bright side

Hello, and welcome to Snob College! (Man, I hate that title...) And as before, the first chapter is indecently short. Sorry.

I wonder how long this story will be? Hopefully not as long… but we'll see over time, I suppose! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Finally!" She stretched her arms, pleased that the last exam was finally over. The sun was out, it was beautiful weather, and finally, she could go out and _frolic _in it. "Hayate, we're finally done! No more exams, just holidays and party, party, _party_!"

An uncharacteristic grin grew on her face as she turned to face her half brother, who was sitting on her right. A small half-smile graced his features, but he seemed distracted. She followed his gaze and her smile slowly faltered into nothing. An empty table, a few rows up.

"Do you think he's okay?" he asked her softly. She nodded determinedly.

"Of course he'd be fine. Stop worrying. He's an adult, well, basically. He doesn't need your mothering, you know,"

Hayate sighed softly. "I suppose you're right. His father has been so worried though. Because he hasn't shown up to any of the exams, the school has had to use the marks from the half year exams as his finals, apparently. He should have thought through this whole disappearing thing a bit more carefully then he did,"

"His father has been worried?"

"Yes. I think, all in all, Ken does care for Ryu's wellbeing. Just not always in the right way, mind you," Hayate stood up, gesturing for her to follow, which she did. Everybody else had already gone. At the doorway, however, they were stopped by the principal.

"Any word? Anything at all?"

Hayate shook his head wordlessly.

"Don't give up hope yet. I'm sure he'll come back,"

"Perhaps. Hopefully,"

Gesturing for her to follow, Hayate exited the auditorium. "Well, there're my finals done. However, you still have another year before you finish up here,"

"Don't fucking well remind me, jerk. Never mind. Who gives a shit, it's the holidays now. Nothing to worry about for another two months or so, so let's just enjoy it,"

They sat underneath the tree together, Hayate oddly silent.

"What are you going to do?" she asked him finally.

"I don't know what you mean, Ayane,"

"After you get your results back. Going to get a job? Go straight to uni?"

He turned to stare, shocked, at her.

"You didn't know? I'm going overseas. I thought I told you that ages ago,"

"What? No, you wanker, you didn't!"

Hayate ran a hand through his hair, usually something he did only when he was nervous or agitated. "Well… I'm going overseas,"

"For the whole year? Are you trying to tell me I have to put up with that slut Kasumi by myself for an entire year?"

"Sorry to disappoint you. Yes, you will have to put up with her. But look on the bright side… when I'm back, we can start college together. Be in the same year and everything,"

"That's supposed to be the bright side? That's just fucking peachy,"

"Better then a kick in the teeth. Let's go home. I don't want to spend my entire holidays lounging around this school any longer,"

She frowned. "Bull _shit. _You're having a year long holiday. Don't feed me that crap about your entire holidays as though we're supposed to drop everything and feel sorry for you. The only part of me that feels sorry is my foot, which is because it will be lodged up your arse if you don't quit complaining. Got it?"

Silence fell between them as Hayate turned away from her to stare beyond the trees.

"Do you think he'll come back?" she questioned eventually.

Hayate turned back to look at her, sincerity beaming from his eyes. "Yes. I know he'll come back. Eventually,"


	2. Happy new year

It had to come sometime… Snob College's first PE4C, Pathetic Excuse For Chapter.

I will be the first to agree that this doesn't actually constitute as an actual _chapter. _It's way too short for my liking, but the split didn't really seem to work otherwise. So… sorry. –Runs away-

I promise the next chapter will be a more decent length. X.X

Oh, and happy new year to you all. :)

* * *

The first thing she set eyes on, on her first _damn _day back, was a bunch of silly, gaga girls running around in circles. 

She had to admit that she had assumed they were thinking up new and inventive ways of drying their nail polish, until she saw them crying.

"Jann-Lee's parents! Our school must be cursed with bad luck! First Irene, then Helena's mother, then Jann-Lee's parents! It's so terrible!"

"What's he going to do now? Ohh!"

She managed to get more then a sob out of Hitomi, thank goodness.

"Jann-Lee's parents were killed on their way to China, his home-country. An aeroplane crash, nothing anybody could change. Thing is that he has no relatives left, so we don't know what's going to happen to him."

"How did you find all this out? What with Jann-Lee being so _social…_" she said sarcastically.

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Well, he has a crush on Leifang; see, even though they both pretend to hate each other. It's so obvious. Anyway, he mentioned it offhandedly just before and the result is what you see now." The brunette gestured to the group of sobbing girls.

"You don't seem overly interested."

"Being concerned about everybody's wellbeing is fair enough, but if you were to get too absorbed in everybody's misfortune, you would be nothing else." Hitomi smiled wanly, but something in her eyes was betraying hidden emotion. "Just ask Helena. Apparently the memory has stirred up the whole thing with her mother and she's had to go home. She's never really gotten over her death. She feels it's her fault."

Ayane snorted. "Ah, the bitch's sob story. Tell her to give the dog a fucking bone, because nobody with half a brain cares."

Hitomi shook her head, her half-smile morphing into a full one. "Never mind. Come on, let's go, I need to find Tina."

She walked off with Hitomi without another glance at the stupid girls.

_Maybe this year won't be as bad as I thought…_


	3. Life back home

First things first. Forgive my horribly poor lack of German. I learn Japanese, okay? -Sweatdrop-

And I like green gummy bears. Heh...

I forgot to answer this before. Fireinu, you're stuck with the Japanese in DOA3, unfortunately. Likewise with DOAU, I've heard. What's wrong with English? :(

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. I love you all! :D

One other thing... after the next chapter, we're jumping straight ahead to the college year. These first few chapters are basically the prologue of the story, setting the scene for the main characters, and then we're going to college! Yay!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the (slightly longer) chapter!

* * *

Even sitting on a plane which was bound for Germany, for a year of doing whatever the hell he wanted, he couldn't be exactly happy, and it was bothering him to some extent.

Well, to a lot of extent, really. Why had Ryu just gone? Just like that, gone. No warning, nothing.

Had everything truly gone so… so pear-shaped that Ryu just needed to get away from it all? And wasn't that what friends were for? Talking things over _when _things went pear-shaped?

He laughed bitterly. He was wasting his time even thinking about that. Everybody knew that Ryu would have dated _Jann-Lee_ before dropping his enigmatic personality.

He couldn't expect things to change so quickly. Ryu just wasn't like that. Never had been, and never would be.

And so, he spent the first day of his holiday worrying. Worrying about his friend, whether he would be alright. Not even spending a second to think what the year _would _hold.

And Kasumi and Ayane. He almost felt guilty, leaving his parents with that enormous blow-up. Everything had officially gone to hell with those two. It had only been a matter of time, sure, but of all times…

Kasumi had been extremely upset about something ever since Ryu had left. He didn't know what exactly. Ayane hadn't shown him the note, and he hadn't pressed the issue simply because it wouldn't have done a thing. If Ayane hadn't wanted to show him, then he wouldn't see it. Simple as that.

Was it simply because Ryu had left without an explanation? He wouldn't blame her if it was, truly. But the depth of her unhappiness seemed to imply that it was something else. Every time he had tried to speak to her, she had just given him an unhappy smile and headed for her bedroom. She had barely come out of there in the week preceding.

Ayane, on the other hand, had been as smug as anything. Whether it was simply revelling in her half-sister's misfortune, or something else, again, he wasn't sure. But something had sent the already precarious relationship between his sisters into turmoil, and although he wasn't certain, he had suspicions about what, or _who… _had caused it.

"Welcome to Germany, ladies and gentlemen. Please fasten your seatbelts for the landing process. We hope you enjoyed your flight, and please come to fly with us again."

Now it was his turn. Time to relax and do his own thing. Life was looking up, yet there were some things that kept him staring down.

He stared around the airport. Considering it was a major airport, it was fairly barren. Nevertheless, Germany was going to be his home for a while; he should enjoy it while he could. Worrying about his sisters and his friend was good, but he had to enjoy himself, too.

Yes… himself. He couldn't be too preoccupied with his life back home, could he?

Could he?

Heading for the closest cafeteria, he ordered a strawberry milkshake. They were his favourite, but he couldn't remember the last time he had had one.

One other thing that been bothering him… his marks. It almost seemed cowardly going away for a year before his parents got his results, but that was what had happened.

_Hopefully I get into whatever Father wants me to do… I can only hope…_

_No, this is ridiculous. I have to enjoy myself… while I still can._

Yet, he had left his phone on. Had, ever since Ryu had left… just in case.

He didn't know what was going to happen. So he would just have to wait and see.

Several people looked curiously over at him as he slurped the last of his milkshake, not caring whether anybody else heard or not.

Time for some rest and relaxation. He deserved it, after the… interesting… previous year.

It would be even more interesting considering his noticeably poor German.

_"Du bist ein grün gummy bear," _he told the people that were still staring at him. They stared at him for a bit longer, before turning away and muttering to themselves. A small grin crossed his face at their expressions.

_Green gummy bear, huh? What an insult._

Grabbing his things, he walked out of the cafeteria, whistling.

_I have to enjoy this year. No matter what._


	4. Everything, not nothing

Okay. On account of me being lazy (well, not quite, but it might seem that way…) after this chapter we are jumping straight to the events of college, namely Ayane making it there. Of course, the events previously will still be referred to and gone over, but these first few chapters were intended solely as prologues for the main three characters. Hope that's alright. :)

Without further ado, onto the chapter, and hope you enjoy!

* * *

A cool breeze tousled his hair as he sat, motionless, staring into the distance. The sun was slowly yet surely disappearing, bathing the area in a golden hue.

Such a simple sight it was; the sun setting. Yet, this time, it provoked such a sense of contentment and sheer… _happiness._

He turned to face the beautiful young woman seated beside him. He hadn't, on reflection, known her for _that_ long… but yet again, it seemed as though he had known her all his life.

She smiled; a beautiful warm smile that warmed his heart. "I love doing this sort of thing with you, Ryu. You don't look at me oddly when I say I enjoy this sort of thing before excusing yourself to go in and watch the cricket on television or something."

He couldn't stop himself from smiling at the sound of her voice. So warm, poignant. Touching to listen to, like music to his ears.

So positively _beautiful._

Her smile morphed into a full-fledged grin. "Or go inside and watch porn movies, instead."

"I don't like watching cricket. Or pornography."

Grin morphed into laughter. "I know."

Sudden silence fell between the two, each lost in their own thoughts.

The gentlest touch on his arm startled him. She suddenly looked serious, almost… hurt…?

"Ryu… just one thing. Why… why won't you…"

He hadn't even realised he had done it. All he knew was that suddenly her hand was off his arm and she was suddenly looking hurt. "What are you talking about?"

She pulled her hand back, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, an act of nervousness. He mentally chastised himself upon viewing the echoing of hurt her visage betrayed. "Never mind, Ryu. I… shouldn't have mentioned anything. I'm sorry."

"No… what… what were you going to say…?"

The smallest upturn of lips in a false, forced smile. "No, don't worry. I didn't mean to say anything of the sort… it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it."

Before he could protest again, she had broken eye contact, her gaze drifting to the sky.

"Isn't it beautiful?"

He opted to ignore the tactless change in subject matter; despite the struggle it was to do so.

"Yes, it is. But… you're beautiful too, you know."

The words came out in an almost clumsy manner. He looked determinedly away so that she wouldn't notice the slight flush he could feel on his cheeks.

A gentle hand on his chin. Suddenly, he was staring into her eyes, those beautiful orbs of blue.

"I'll cherish those words forever. It's the first time you ever told me that."

Before he could say anything, she broke eye contact abruptly, staring down at the tiles. Her fingers were flittering about in movements of nervousness.

"I wish you would talk to me more about how you feel. It makes me feel as though you don't trust me, and that makes me… that makes me sad."

She laid a hand on his arm again, and he didn't have the heart to push it away.

"What do you want me to tell you?"

A soft sigh escaped her lips, just visible as vapour in the cool air. "Everything, instead of nothing."

He stood up abruptly, steadying himself on the damp tiles. "I'm sorry to anger you so."

"Ryu, please. Don't be like that." She stood up too, not so much shorter then he. "I… I just… I just worry about you. Surely you realise that."

"Then you should know that you don't have to worry about me."

"Don't you want me to worry about you?" Her eyes were dark with unshed tears, much to his surprise.

"I don't want you to worry about me."

"Ryu, if that is what you want, then so be it."

Before he could say anything else, she had gone. As abruptly as that.

He sat down again, staring out at where the sun had been moments ago. The wind suddenly felt a lot colder then it had previously.

"I'm sorry," he said finally to the trees, to the wind. "I'm sorry that I can't be who and what you want me to be."

No response, other then the wind picking up pace. It definitely had a bite to it now. He shivered, curling up in an effort to regain some warmth.

"I don't know what you want from me… Irene…"


	5. Back to school

Sorry, sorry. My Irene is a blonde, blue-eyed Irene, much to the annoyance of some of the Snob School readers. But yeah, she needed to be a bit different and I read this description of her and liked it, so the blonde, blue-eyed Irene was born. I know she's closer to a brunette or a red-head, with green or brown eyes (it's been so long since I've played NG that I've forgotten! Yeowch!) but in this story… she isn't. Sorry for any confusion there. :)

That aside… they've finally made it to college! Yay! Now here's where the real story begins… I think…

* * *

All that stilted the picturesque view of the mountain sunset was the trees that adorned the area. So many trees littering the landscape, nothing to spoil his view of the utter beautifulness of isolation. His solitude, but not for much longer.

He sighed softly. _This is my last night here. Tomorrow, it's back down to suburbia. To college. And there is no way that I would want to go, but… it is something that I must do. For Father, and to prove to myself that I indeed can. I must._

Emerald eyes drifted to a picture on the mantle. The one remnant of his past life that he had brought along with him. The past life that he would be returning to, very shortly.

_Kasumi. Hayate… and Ayane. I will be seeing you all again soon. I hope you didn't miss me._

He ran a hand through his chestnut brown locks, which now trailed far down his back.

_Well, there is nothing I can do to avoid it. So. Suburbia and, in Ayane's words, snob college, here I come._

Ayane tossed her lavender hair back disdainfully upon seeing the large grey building and several other equally grey buildings around it. "What a hole," she muttered under her breath, hoping that her words would not invoke any reaction from her half-brother, Hayate.

Unfortunately, they did.

"No doubt you said something of the sort this time the year before last?" he asked, feigning innocuousness. She shot him a glare, gesturing with a black-gloved hand at the main building.

"Look at this shit-heap, onion-head. This is far worse then snob school. Far worse. It's a freaking tip. With dorms. I don't want to have to sleep in that thing. I'll get a disease,"

Hayate muffled a snort. She turned around, hitting him solidly in the arm as she did so.

"You knew what I was thinking?" Hayate asked, rubbing his arm where she had hit him. She nodded, folding her arms across her chest.

"Something disgusting and dirty, no doubt,"

Hayate smiled. "Of course. The only thing I was thinking is that the only disease you are likely to catch whilst in college is a sexually transmitted one-"

That earned him another hit, this time in the stomach.

"Okay, okay…" Hayate held up his hands in amity after regaining his breath. "No need to get so _anal… _I mean, you'll get enough of that here, no doubt?"

"You _are_ asking to die, aren't you?" she snapped angrily, secretly quite offended by the remark. "Anyway, don't you have anyone else to bother? Where's Kasumi? Did she find some other, above-mere-mortal way to get here, rather then in your shit-bucket?"

"Hey, Ayane. This 'shit-bucket' is your only mode of transportation for a while. I would watch it if I were you," Hayate yawned and stretched. "After a year of break, it's sure going to be hard to get back into study mode, that's for sure,"

She glanced across at her half-brother. The lucky bitch had been overseas for most of the year, sporting a nice golden tan to prove it. As for her, she had been stuck with shitty weather, no tan and no transport for over half a year. Sometimes her life sucked.

"And to make things even worse, now I have no idea how to get around. Just when I was getting used to everything in a snob school, I get booted up into Snob College. Maybe I should have just dropped out. Would have made things a damn lot easier then learning where everything is again,"

"That never bothered you before," Hayate pointed to a sign saying 'office'. "Maybe they can tell us where we're supposed to be going. Damn. I really want to dump this suitcase and unpack my stuff as soon as possible. This thing's heavy,"

"Asshole," she muttered under her breath.


	6. Fated reunion

Ahahaha! Another chapter! Well… not much to say this time, I think. Just that I hope you enjoy it, as always. Until next time!

* * *

He pulled open the door of the dormitory hesitantly. Apparently, he was supposed to be rooming with another male who was already here. He didn't even get a name or any hope of being able to identify the person. _Probably some messy person who won't clean up and fill my room with shit._

However, he was pleasantly surprised. The dorm, if it was actually appropriate to call it that, was more like a mini apartment, furnished, albeit sparsely, and quite spacious. He had stepped into a small, but useable kitchen, with dining table and chairs, today's newspaper lying on the bench nearby. There was enough evidence to legitimately state that another person lived here, but not by much. It was so quiet and tidy that it made Hayate wonder if the person that lived here was actually a _robot _as opposed to a mere mortal. _Maybe he's a law student. Ha, I'm so witty. Although, technically, I shouldn't be joking about that, considering that I _am _studying law… no thanks to Father or anything. Couldn't do medicine, so the next in line was law… I should have been expecting it._

He opened the door to what he assumed was his room. A small bed was in one corner, and near the window was a wooden desk. Not bad, considering what he was expecting. A chest of drawers was on the far wall, next to the bed, and a cupboard on the opposite wall. He immediately dropped his suitcase on the ground and started unloading his clothes and possessions, making the room feel more like 'home'.

_Look on the bright side, Hayate. At least you don't have to put up with Father complaining about maths work incessantly. That's all over. Basically._

Suddenly, he heard the door open. He stepped out into the main area, ready to introduce himself to his new room-mate.

He stepped back in complete and utter shock. His 'new room-mate' looked almost as shocked as he felt, which in itself was a rather impressive achievement. The door dug into his back as he stared brazenly at his long-time friend.

At least it explained why the place was so damn _tidy._

Finally, he managed to find his voice. "Ryu. Long time no see, huh."

Over a year. Ryu had certainly changed in that time. Taller, more mature looking. Still had the excessively long hair, however. However, he looked thinner and to some extent, almost startlingly so, once tanned skin now lighter, as though his friend hadn't seen sunlight for a long time.

Regardless, it was still Ryu, still his best friend. Forgetting about the more 'masculine' approach of shaking hands, he pulled Ryu into a friendly embrace, instead. "Ryu. How you been? What did you do? More importantly, where did you go?"

They pulled away almost simultaneously, he mentally musing over the fact that Ryu certainly was a lot thinner then before, but not worrying about it too much at this point in time. Ryu ran his hands through his hair thoughtlessly.

"Fine. Not a lot. Nowhere that would interest you, really."

"You're still the same, I see," he settled himself on the couch. "Well, if you have nothing to tell, then would you like to hear about my travels?"

"Sure," Ryu sat down opposite him. "So. What did you do?"

Even as they talked, it seemed different. Almost as though he was talking to a different Ryu, a completely new person. Things were the same, but so dissimilar at the same time, which made him wonder. _Oh well. Nobody can hold any secrets around me. I'll find out sometime._

"Do you want a drink of some description?" Ryu stood up and walked over to the small kitchen. "This certainly is a lot different to back home. No beer in the fridge."

"Well, that could change if you wanted it to…" he almost flinched under his friend's stern emerald gaze. "Alright, alright… I was only joking anyway. Do you have anything sugary in there? Or is it all crap? I don't even know what you like to eat. Hope you aren't too fussy if and when I have to cook."

Ryu shook his head, pulling a bottle of juice out of the fridge. "This alright?"

He nodded, and walked over, closer inspecting the small kitchen. "Small, but useful, at least."

Gratefully, he took the glass that was pushed across the bench to him.

Ryu glanced up. "Yes, I suppose. I only just got here about an hour ago, and left to buy some food to last us a while."

"Did you know that we would be rooming together?"

Ryu shook his head. "All I was told was that I would be sharing a dormitory with somebody, and that the first there had to cater. You don't mind pasta, do you?"

"Can you even cook?" he exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Enough. Mostly Japanese foods, though, and not knowing who I was rooming with, I didn't know whether they would appreciate that. Hence the reason I bought some pasta. Simply adding boiling water shouldn't be too difficult, even for me."

"Japanese food is fine," he sat down at the bench. "Even for you? You're a genius, adding boiling water couldn't be _that _difficult. Speaking of which, what course are you even doing? See? I know nothing, thanks to your nicking off and disappearing without a trace."

"Medicine," was the simple response. "What about you?"

He sipped at the juice. "Law. Father wanted me to do it, and of course, whatever Father says goes. So law it was."

A small faint hint of a smile played across Ryu's lips, but he didn't say anything.

"So. You have to tell me now… I'm curious. Where did you go? Must have been pretty good if you stayed there for a year."

Ryu shook his head slowly. "One such as yourself would not be truly interested in what my absence entailed. There is no need to trouble yourself with such frivolous conversation. I do not wish to tire you."

He blinked. _Has it been truly that long? Ryu's speaking like a bloody dictionary. The way he was when we first met. What's changed? Sure, it's been a year. We've had the year off, so Kasumi and Ayane are with us now. But what else is so different?_

A soft sigh escaped his lips. _I suppose everything has changed. And perhaps I never knew Ryu as well as I thought. But then again, have I ever really truly known him? The answer is certainly no, which is… sad._

"Suit yourself. I'm going back out. Do you want to come?"

"No thankyou."

_Fine. _Before Ryu could say anything else, he had picked up his wallet and other belongings, before walking out of the room and closing the door with a finalising _bang._


	7. Old habits die hard

First things first: I am losing my touch! –Sniffle- But here's another chapter anyway.

Second things second: Tee hee! This site… Scandinavian! –Snigger-

Third: Shameless plug time! I'm posting another story up (yes, another…) revolving around Ayane, for those Ayane fans out there, if you're interested. If not, then ignore my beautiful shameless plug…

Fourth: Maybe this would explain Ryu's odd behaviour…?

Anyway, until next time!

* * *

"Never thought you would be so useful."

The man standing in front of him gave a throaty chuckle, blowing smoke in his face. "My, my, my. How different from the faggot we used to know."

"Don't make me hurt you," he warned.

Black beady eyes stared at him reproachfully. "You want this, don't you?"

He folded his arms across his chest. "Look, Bayman, to put this in the vernacular, I am the one paying you. So cut the crap and just give them to me, damn it."

Bayman laughed again, taking another drag of the cigarette. "Leon would have a field day if he knew, but you are paying me, I suppose. Here you go."

He snatched the box out of the taller man's hand. "Thankyou."

Emerald eyes stared at the box almost longingly. _Finally. Something to help me survive this rotten year. _He shook his head, to clear his thoughts, before opening the box and looking at the tablets thoughtfully. _They look different. No matter. They should be the same._

_Happy new school year._

Ayane rubbed her hands together, wrapping her scarf around her neck. Considering it was so early in the year, it was freezing! _Damn cold weather! I hate it! Lucky Hayate got to jet off and find decent weather. That whole year for me was full of the shit weather, almost as if Hayate took the good stuff with him! Summer wasn't even hot. And it's freezing now._

Rummaging in her pocket, she pulled out a cigarette and lighter. _Now I am officially allowed to smoke without anyone being able to do a thing about it. It's great!_

_Err, not that I gave a shit whether they tried doing anything about it beforehand. But even still. It's nice to not get nagged constantly because now they can do shit all._

As she walked down the corridor leading outside, she heard several girls talking and giggling together about something.

_Déjà vu. _She noted as she guessed what, or who, they were talking about.

"There are two new guys, young ones. But they are like, so hot!"

"Only freshmen and they're that hot? Why couldn't our year have had any spunks like that?"

"Did you see their hair? Like, how cool was it? So now! All long and everything! They pulled it off without looking, you know, hippy-ish and everything. It's really hot."

A blonde that reminded her suspiciously of Helena spoke. "It is very stylish."

_Hayabusa is here too? _She wondered with some consternation. _Oh well, it shouldn't make a difference whether or not he is. There's probably some other hot guy around here._

_Wait, who am I trying to kid? Girls go all ditzy like that around my brother and his best friend, it's a given. So it could as easily be them. And how many other guys do I know that have long hair? Uh, let's see… none?_

_How long has it been since I've seen Hayabusa last? Ages. A year. Wow. Been a while.  
Double take. _Is _that bitch actually Helena?_

She stared back. _Shit. It is. Happy joy, just another way to ruin this already dodgy year. What are the odds of her taking a year's off as well? Or maybe she didn't. Either way… shit._

"Hey hey, sweet chickies!"

Raising an eyebrow at the voice, she turned to see where it had come from. All the girls stopped their chatter and wrinkled their noses in disgust.

"Zack. Go away."

_Oh my god. No way. What the hell is he doing in uni? I thought he would be like, dead now or something. But no, he's still here. Zack _and_ his horrible hair. Great._

"Would ya look at that? It's Ay!"

_Shit. _He had noticed her. "Fuck off, Zack."

Helena turned at the sound of her speaking. "Oh, look. We have the public school trash in a university. I'm surprised you got this far, Ayane. So, what are you studying? How to sleep with fifty men in less then ten days? I doubt you need lessons on that."

"Look, bitch. You have approximately five seconds to go before I shove this cigarette up your arse. Got it?"

Helena stared unblinkingly at her with aqua eyes. "See what I mean, girls? Trash."

"Where's Leifang?" One of the girls she didn't know asked.

_Damn it all! Looks like everybody's here, pretty much. Maybe Tina and Hitomi are around here somewhere, too. I wonder why those sluts are hanging around with second-years. Probably because nobody else can stomach them._

"Five. Four. Three. Two…"

Helena stayed staring at her.

"Alright. Suit yourself," With three strides, she had walked over and calmly stuck her cigarette in the French girl's hair.


	8. Something's changed

This site's new layout is confusing me. I know it's not confusing and I'm stupid, but… hush.

Anyway; greetings from Kurmoi with another update! I know it's been a long time in coming, but, to be honest, I totally forgot about my stories here. –Insert sheepish grin here- Hence the lack of updates! So hopefully the next update won't be quite so long in coming, and hopefully you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

The scent of burning hair immediately filled the air as light blonde was charred to straw-like black in seconds. Helena immediately batted away the sparks, glaring at her. She returned the glare tenfold. Before she could say anything else, Helena had turned around and stormed away, with a visible dark spot on her hair. Her fan-club followed her.

"Good work, Ay," she was started back to reality with a hand on her backside.

"Fuck off or you'll get the same thing. Got it? And this time, I'll douse you in alcohol first."

She jabbed him in the toe with the heel of her shoe, simultaneously elbowing him off her.

"Come on, sweetie-pie. You know you want me…" Zack's tone was sugary sweet.

"I want a buffalo to come up and molest me more then I want you. Can't you take a bloody hint? Or has the hair gel really clogged up your brain that much?"

"Aww, sweetie! That cut deep!"  
"Not as deep as you will be in _shit _if you keep this stupid act up, Zack! Fuck off and leave me alone! Got it?"

"Ayane?"

She glanced up at the sound of that oh-so familiar voice. The voice that had brought her so much anger and pain, but so much happiness at the same time. "Hayabusa? What are you doing here?"

Emerald seemed almost unfocused as he looked at her. "Nothing much."

He looked as though he had been hit over the head, actually. That dazed sort of look that people she knew wore when they were high on some drug. But Hayabusa would never do that. She raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I reckon. You look as though you're on drugs."

He blinked at her in an almost delayed reaction, but said nothing. _There's something odd, different about the way he's acting. Sure, it's been a while since I've seen him. But if I didn't know better, I would really say that he's on drugs. But he can't be. This is Mr-Straight-and-Narrow. Wait. This is Mr-Straight-and-Narrow-who-got-drunk-down-at-the-pub once before he was actually _allowed _to drink, and Mr-Straight-and-Narrow-who-used-fake-ID-to-get-more-alcohol. I wouldn't know anything much about him if it came and popped up in my soup bowl. Unless it was his-_

"Who's this, Ay?" Zack turned to stare at her, interrupting her train of thought.

"None of your fucking business," she managed to spit out, each word tinged with malice.

"You her boyfriend, dude?" Zack questioned Hayabusa, who shook his head wordlessly.

_Yeah, damn straight. Not my boyfriend… now…_

_Okay, Ayane. Quit that train of thought right _there. _He's not worth getting a sore head over._

_I really think it could have worked. Perhaps. Or perhaps not. _

"Where'd you go?" she exclaimed, completely ignoring Zack. "You just disappeared on us."

"Not that far. How was your final year?"

Sure, he looked out of it but his conversation was at least halfway decent. Better then the alternative. "Alright, I guess. Nothing to write home about, so to speak."

"Don't worry, chickie, I can give you something to write home about," Zack interjected.

"You keep this up and you'll be writing home to say you have no balls. Got it?"

"Aww… Ay, stop trying to play hard-to-get. You know you want me…"

"Leave her be," Hayabusa suddenly instructed.

Both she and Zack turned questioningly to Hayabusa.

"What?" she asked. Zack looked equally clueless.

"She obviously does not wish to be the target of your affections. Leave her be."

"C'mon, man," Zack protested. "She's not yours, so it's none of your business whether she's playing hard-to-get or not, dude."

"She has more sense then desiring you for a partner. Leave her alone."

She smirked when Zack missed the insult.

"What he's trying to say, Zack, is fuck off and leave me the hell alone before he kicks your sorry arse from here to next year. Right?"

Hayabusa looked down at her. "Something like that."

Zack frowned, but walked away as she looped her arm through Hayabusa's. "So. Long time no see, huh?"

As soon as they were around the corner, he subtly removed his arm from hers. "Yes. How have you been?"

"Fine. What do you expect me to say?"

Hayabusa shrugged, stopping outside a door. "This would be my stop."

"Alright, then," There was obviously something very different between them now. She didn't know what it was, but something was certainly there that hadn't been there before. "Bye."

"Goodbye, Ayane."

He turned to shut the door, but on an impulse, she stopped him.

"Hayabusa. What's different between us now?"

He raised emerald eyes to her face. "Everything, Ayane. Everything."

She tried to say something else, but he had gone. She stared at the solid wooden door for a while as she tried to discern his words, with no luck.

* * *


End file.
